GMO Inside Blog

“Are Cheerios Really a Healthy Choice?”

Cheerios are an iconic breakfast cereal eaten by millions of American’s every day, owned by staunch GMO enthusiast General Mills. These millions of Americans have been told by General Mills that Cheerios are a healthy breakfast and snack item that brings the benefits of wholesome oats, low sugar, and essential vitamins and minerals into their diets.

While GMO Inside recognizes that whole grains like oats, moderation of sugar, and balanced consumption of vitamins and minerals are certainly part of a healthy eating plan, a deeper look at Cheerios uncovers that their claimed benefits are also accompanied by a high risk of GMOs, surprisingly controversial ingredients, and a less than stellar overall nutritional profile.

Taking a careful look at Cheerios, GMO Inside would like to help consumers answer the question; Are Cheerios really a healthy choice?

Let us start by breaking down the ingredients for the entire Cheerios line. GMO Inside has bolded the likely GMO ingredients in each variety below.

Analysis

Currently on the Cheerios website, General Mills claims their Cheerios varieties are a part of a healthy diet because they are low in saturated fat, naturally cholesterol free, can help lower cholesterol, are made with whole grains like oats, and provide essential vitamins and minerals.

Over the years public perception has been shaped by these and similar claims so that Cheerios cereals have become widely considered to be a healthy choice that is low in sugar, unprocessed, and made with natural ingredients.

But what is true, and what is fiction? Let’s break it down.

Are Cheerios Made with Wholesome Grains and Oats?

Originally called “Cheerioats”, the Cheerios name was selected so the cereal would be associated with the taste and wholesome appeal of oats. One of the main nutrition angles that General Mills exploits is the use of natural oats in Cheerios, however, in seven out of the twelve Cheerios varieties currently sold in the U.S. marketplace, oats are not even listed as the first ingredient (remember, ingredients are listed in order of abundance by weight within a product).

All Cheerios cereal varieties are made with whole grains and do have at least 8 grams per serving, but whole grains ground into flour, do not have the same health benefits as unprocessed whole grains. On the Cheerios website they say that their process is simply mixing, cooking, forming, and toasting. While that sounds nice, the final product – uniform and indistinguishable O’s – bears little resemblance to whole oats or any other whole grains. Cheerios are indeed made with whole grains, but “processed whole grains” would be a more appropriate listing.

Are Cheerios Low in Sugar?

In terms of Sugar – Only Regular Cheerios, Multi Grain Cheerios, and Dulche De Leche Cheerios have less than 9 grams of sugar per serving. The nine other Cheerios varieties have a sugar content that is much too high to be considered low or healthy when compared to other accessible breakfast cereal options. The American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day, and no more than 38 grams for men. The average amount of sugar per serving (1 or ¾ Cups depending on variety) across all varieties of Cheerios is 7.92 grams per cup or quarter cup.

According to the nutritional information on the Cheerios website, the serving sizes are not consistent across the whole Cheerios line. The serving size is 1 cup for both regular Cheerios, which has 1 gram of sugar serving, and for Multi Grain Cheerios, which has 6 grams of sugar per serving.

Conversely, the more sugary varieties of Cheerios: Honey Nut Cheerios, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios, Banana Nut Cheerios, Chocolate Cheerios, Multi Grain Cheerios Peanut Butter, Fruity Cheerios, and Yogurt Burst Cheerios – have a smaller serving size of ¾ Cup. This is not something that Cheerios advertises as broadly as the other aspects of its cereals, probably because it would draw attention to the fact that even though you are supposed to be eating less of these Cheerios varieties, you are still getting more sugar. Since this is not as widely publicized, then there are almost certainly consumers who are unaware of these different serving sizes and are starting their days off with an even higher amount of unexpected sugar.

Do Cheerios Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease and High Cholesterol?

Cheerios are infamous for their heart healthy claims and for being low in saturated fat and cholesterol. The brand in the past pushed these claims so heavily that in 2009 the FDA had to send a letter asking General Mills to alter Cheerios marketing strategies because of “unauthorized health claims” and because said claims would mean that Cheerios would fall under the label of an “unapproved new drug”. Cheerios has since reworked their marketing and health claims into the message that Cheerios CAN be a part of a healthy diet that COULD reduce the risks of heart disease.

It is important to note that part of what allows Cheerios to claim that it can be part of a diet that could reduce the risk of heart disease is the cereals’ fiber and whole grain content. We already covered the whole grain aspects of Cheerios, and when looking at fiber it appears that ONLY Regular Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, and Yogurt Burst Cheerios contain soluble fiber, with Cheerios having just 1 gram per serving, Honey Nut Cheerios having 0.75 gram per serving, and Yogurt Burst Cheerios with “less than 1 gram of soluble fiber”.

Concerning insoluble fiber, listed on the boxes as dietary fiber – Only Regular Cheerios, Multi Grain Cheerios, Multi-Grain Cheerios Peanut Butter, and Cinnamon Burst have over 2 grams of Dietary Fiber. The remaining 8 out of the 12 varieties are only at an inadequate 2 grams per serving.

The bottom line for this is that if you are eating cereal for breakfast and we were only paying attention to fiber numbers, then regular Cheerios is the only variety of Cheerios that would provide an adequate amount of fiber to start your day in a healthy way.

What about the other ingredients in Cheerios that are not bolded because of a high risk of being GMOs?

BHT is Butylated Hydroxytoluene a food additive used to preserve freshness in some products, but in scientific studies it has been shown to be possible carcinogen. As shown above, BHT is used in Chocolate Cheerios, Dulche De Leche Cheerios, Multi Grain Cheerios Peanut Butter, Cinnamon Burst Cheerios, Fruity Cheerios, and Banana Nut Cheerios.

Other ingredients used in some or all of the Cheerios varieties that have raised red flags for health conscious consumers include: Trisodium Phosphate, Artificial Colors, Natural Flavors, Vanillin (synthetic Vanilla), Corn Syrup, Soy Lecithin, Maltodextrin, and Glycerides. Each of these ingredients have been possibly linked to negative health impacts by studies in recent years and many health conscious consumers have put these ingredients on their do-not-eat lists.

Do Cheerios Contain GMOs?

The most common GMO crops to look out for in the U.S. are Soy, Corn, Cotton, Canola, Sugar Beets, and Papaya. Foods that clearly have these words in their ingredient lists are all at risk of being GMO if they are not certified organic or Non-GMO.

General Mills sources its corn from the United States, where 88% of the crop is genetically modified, and our ingredient breakdown showed that corn-based ingredients are a common ingredient in all Cheerios varieties. While the corn ingredients are easy to spot and flag, some other high GMO risk ingredients that have been bolded are a little more inconspicuous. For example, Vitamin E is in each and every one of the Cheerios products, and is a hidden GMO ingredient that many consumers are unaware of. Vitamin E in Cheerios comes from Mixed Tocopherols which are most commonly derived from soy, corn, or cotton –the most extensively genetically engineered crops. For a list of other GMO ingredients that are commonly hidden in processes foods, Non-GMO Shopping Guide has built this highly useful list.

Multi Grain Cheerios are the only Cheerios variety that has just one likely GMO ingredient in its first three ingredients listed. The likely GMO ingredient however is its first-listed and most abundant ingredient: Whole Grain Corn. This Whole Grain Corn is almost certainly genetically modified.

Besides Multi Grain Cheerios, the ingredients list for every single other variety of Cheerios starts with at least two out of its most abundant ingredients as likely GMOs. Taking this a step further – each of the first three ingredients for both Chocolate and Multi Grain Cheerios Peanut Butter are likely GMOs, and all of the first six ingredients in Cinnamon Burst Cheerios are very likely to be made from GMOs.

Conclusions

Cheerios of all types are loaded with likely GMOs, and the brand across the board does not live up to the positive public perception and nutritious message that General Mills has cultivated through years of advertisements, loose health claims, and public relations strategies.

For people interested in eating for optimal health, consuming whole foods and staying away from processed products are good basic guidelines to follow. The lengthiness of the Cheerios ingredient lists and the inclusion of unrecognizable synthetic ingredients, unnecessary and controversial food additives, cheap sweeteners, and unwholesome ingredients are directly inconsistent with those basic health rules. After reading the labels, it should be clear that there are definitely safer and less processed sources for your breakfast fiber, vitamins, and whole grains.

What Can We Do?

If you are an individual concerned about the risks of GMOs and the health of your families and the environment, GMO Inside invites you to reach out to General Mills through our petition and let Cheerios know what you think of their use of GMOs on their Facebook Page.

We also invite you to become a GMO Insider by signing up for our e-alerts about GMOs or by connecting to us on Facebook.

If you have any questions about GMOs or comments about how some of these ingredients are at high risk of being a GMO, please leave a comment below!

39 Awesome Comments So Far

I Do not want GMO’s in my food! I would at least want them labled so I can choose not to eat them and I would like a choice not to eat them. I love Cheerios and I would like a non GMO Cheerios to choose. If you make one for Europe why can’t you make one for us in the USA?

Exactly! I don’t understand why GM can make non-GMO foods for countries that ban GMO-laced foods, but refuse to offer the option here in the US. I have family in Spain; perhaps I should starting asking them to ship me multi grain Cheerios… I like to eat them, but not at the risk of putting GMOs in my body. At the very least GM, LABEL your food that contain GMOs and allow the consumer to make an educated purchase!

Because checking the label and knowing what’s really inside of your food isn’t a widely enough practiced amoung the consumers here in America and they won’t stop until they definitely know they can’t get away with it anymore.

It sickens me to discover so many foods are at risk of being contaminated. Something as seemingly harmless as eating a bowl of cereal could be introducing GMOs into my body without my knowledge. Truth is, I don’t trust the safety of consuming genetically modified foods. No more cheerios until these GMOs are surely out of the American diet. As it is well known, Europe has this luxury, so I except the same courtesy.

I loved Cheerios but now I will have to start eating some other kind of cold breakfast cereal. Please look into changing your ingredients. I would love to have my Cheerios back healthy for us consumers. Thanking you in advance.

I’m very concerned after reading this, this cereal I give my 6 year old daughter for breakfast almost every single day!!! thinking that it was a healthy option!! and it is nothing but garbage. Thanks for the info.

My daughter alerted me to the problems with my favorite cereal. I will not be buying Cheerios until General Mills fixes this staple of a lot of families. I will be talking to all my friends about this as I am sure they are not aware of the dietary faults in GM products.

Please do your own research on this subject. Do not buy in to the paranoia propaganda until you are completely informed from both sides of the subject. Without GMOs you would not have your modern medicine.
I suppose, you could just start your own garden, get your own livestock, and only come out at night…because again, I hear the sun can cause cancer too. Don’t want to take any chances.

Thanks for your feedback, Tyler! GMO Inside works to educate consumers about the negative environmental, social, and health-related impacts of genetically modified foods. Our concern stems from increased herbicide use on GMO crops that pollutes soil and water resources, the increased incidence of superweeds due to herbicide resistance, and the corporate-controlled seed supply and limited benefits to farmers. Also, since GMOs were commercialized in the mid-90s, there have not been enough independent, long-term studies to ensure safety of GM-foods. Please feel free to read more at our info page: http://gmoinside.wpengine.com/faqs/.

Your blog is dated June 2013, and there is an article in USA Today dated January 2014 that says:

“Under pressure from consumers and activist groups, General Mills says it will stop using genetically modified ingredients to make its original Cheerios cereal.

While the oats used to make Cheerios have never contained any genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the company did make changes to its sourcing — and now, for example, only uses non-GMO pure cane sugar instead of beet sugar.”

And this is from the Cheerios website today:

“We don’t use genetically modified ingredients in original Cheerios. Our principal ingredient has always been whole grain oats – and there are no GMO oats. We use a small amount of corn starch in cooking, and just one gram of sugar per serving for taste. But our corn starch comes from non-GMO corn, and we use only non-GMO pure cane sugar.”

So, if the main health concern of ORIGINAL Cheerios (I’m not referring to any of the other sugary varieties which I wouldn’t give my children) was the presence of GMOs, would you now consider original Cheerios to be a healthy choice? I have given my son original Cheerios and Purely Os which are organic. He really doesn’t like the Purely Os and barely eats them. I think the original Cheerios are softer in texture. I haven’t tried the other organic brand you mentioned. But, if Cheerios no longer contain GMOs, then perhaps it’s okay to go back to them?

The way I see things, these big companies never have the consumer’s best interest in mind, no matter what they might declare! They are just relying on the fact that people are uninformed and easily fooled. I would never “go back to Cheerios” just because they said they have quit GMO. Rarely do these companies change their politics, they just modify it in order to be appealing to consumers. And I also think that because I am not from the US, but from Romania, I can see better what these big companies are trying to do. We have mostly consumed farmer’s products, like dairy, vegetables and fruits, but recently they are trying really hard to stop the farmers from selling their goods, or they are trying to get the poison inside those as well. So now we read labels carefully and actually take with us lists of bad ingredients, ingredients that, for an untrained eye, are easily mistaken for harmless ones (example: vegetable oil = most of the time is palm oil). What I’m trying to say is open your eyes and your mind, try to buy products with the least amount of ingredients and make sure you know what they are. If it has some sort of crazy name, don’t buy it. Become informed and if possible, replace what you would normally buy with home-made alternatives. Don’t say you don;t have time, where there’s a will there’s a way!

Thank you, I just had a baby and I see as they get older like a year I see a lot of parent give this brand thinking its a healthy choice. Thank you for the information now that I’m a parent I’m very protective of what goes into my baby body since I don’t really trust the U.S government to protect us from these big companies that just want to make a buck . I take my time now when I’m in the supermarket and read the ingredients.

If anybody thinks that sugar laced and lab made products are healthy they are sadly mistaken. It is no wonder that people and especially children are getting fatter and unhealthy. Do you think a company that would make a chocolate coated cereal really cares about the health of consumers. They will never change unless they are forced to by regulation because most people eat for the taste not for the health and there is the main problem. All processed food is garbage in my opinion, but for now it is legal to sell as actual food, but hopefully that will change.

I am disgusted by the fact that I have been feeding my children honey nut Cheerios for years not knowing that I was feeding them GMO.How can GM do this to people, do this to children. Label your products or make non gmo products. Money is not worth people’s health.You all should be ashamed, but I know you are not, because with people like you, it just comes down to profits.. May I remind you money can not buy good health.

Well! For years Cheerios has been a main stay breakfast for my wife, and I would partake once-in-awhile, however, Cheerios is now out of our house forever as are all other dry cerals until I can find one my will eat.

I perfer fresh steel cut oats cooked in fresh pressed apple juice (Not from concentrate) – but now – I’m concerned they are also contaminated ???????

So, you’ve been feeding your kids this for years some of you say. Others of you say you have been eating them your whole life and are now upset to find out they have GMO…….are yall alive? are you fat? does your heart hurt? now apply all those questions to your kids.

Pretty sure cheerios are not the devil and are not trying to kill us. GMO is in the milk to btw people. It is just cereal and it is def healthier than like 90% of all other cereals so get over yourselves, shut the heck up, and eat your darn cereal.

It’s a shame that our elected reps alow us to be poisoned with ingredients in our food and water not allowed in other countries it’s almost like they want to make us sick . and then big pharma can milk all our money out of us for a cure that usually ends up killing us anyway . Hmmmmm I wonder who s in who s back pocket

1. Sugar is sugar is sucrose. Sucrose does not contain DNA or protein. There is no such thing as “GMO sugar.”
2. The National Toxicology Program has determined that BHT is noncarcinogenic in a mouse model. As an antioxidant, it might even be good for you.

Currently sugar comes from two main sources, sugar cane and sugar beets. The majority of sugar produced from sugar beets is produced from a genetically engineered variety of sugar beet, hence GMO sugar.

To clarify, it was Honey Nut Cheerios, dry without milk, that I reacted to earlier today. I was a bit startled by the reaction so I was curious is the ingredients or something else had changed. I don’t react to Oatmeal or oats in other form but I have been reacting to modern wheat for awhile now. It definitely makes me curious to learn more because I grew up on my mother’s homemade wheat bread and it was fine back in the day. It’s easy to find information on how much wheat production has changed since then.

I also have awful adverse reactions to the common food additive, Citric Acid, please look it up to see the other names it goes by if you suspect it–it’s hiding in foods you wouldn’t expect. For anyone else going through this or with a family member, here is just one quick example of a pediatric study that demonstrated positive adverse reactions to additives, including Citric Acid, just to show that this is a legitimate concern for some of us: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8198237.